Selector switch suitable for use in telephone systems



March 14, 1933.

G. DEAKIN ET AL 1,900,917

SELECTOR SWITCH SUITABLE FOR USE IN TELEPHONE SYSTEMS Filed May 31, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet l i lllilllllllllll INVENTOR GERALD DEAKIN LOUIS J J SCHREIBER ATTORNEY SELECTOR SWITCH SUITABLE FOR USE IN TELEPHONE SYSTEMS Filed May 31, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 'MM-O INVENTOR GERALD 05mm LOUIS J.J. SCHREIBER YG 'WW' ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 14, 1933 UNITED STATES [PATENT OFFICE GERALD DEAKIN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., AND LOUIS JEAN JOSEPH SCI-IEEIBER, OF

ANTWERP, BELGIUM, ASSIGNORS TO INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ELECTRIC COR- PORA'IION, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

SELECTOR SWITCH SUITABLE FOR USE IN TELEPHONE SYSTEMS Application. filed May 31, 1930, Serial No. 458,044, and in Great Britain June 26, 1929;

This invention relates to selector switches suitable for use in tel phone systems, which comprise groups or levels of stationary .con tacts and associated sets of movable contacts or brushes, one for each group or level, and means for selecting a particular set of the movable contacts or brushes for engagement with a particular group or level. of stationary contacts.

Hitherto in selecting switches of this type separate driving means have been used for the move rent of the said movable contacts or brushes and for operating the means for selecting a particular set of said movable contacts or brushes.

.The present invention has for its object an inmroved selecting devicein which the said movable contacts and the means for selecting a particular set of brushes are operated by means of one common driven gear and one common drive. I I

7 According to a feature of this invention in its application to a rotary selector switch of the kind. in which a particular set of brushes on a rotatable brush carriage is selected for engagement with a set of stationary contacts by means of a trip spindle or cam shaft, the trip spindle or cam shaft is brought into its operative position simultaneously with a preliminary movement of the brush carriage.

According to another feature of the inven tion the trip spindle or cam shaft is driven from a continuously rotating power driven shaft through the brush carriage arranged therebetween. I

A further feature of the invention relates to an intermediate Wheel mounted on the shaft of the brush carriage and adapted to be brought into engagement with a continuously rotating wheel fixed on a power driven shaft and moreover with a wheel mounted on the trip spindle or cam shaft. The said intermediate wheel may be a flevible gear wheel which is normally warped out of engagement with the said continuously rotating wheel and /or the wheel of the trip spindle by armatures of clutch magnets associated with the brush carriage and the trip spindle which operate upon the said flexible wheel.

According to further features of the invention the home position and the ratio of the speed of the trip spindle and the brush carriage are such that the trip spindle can reach any of its tripping positions before the brush carriage passes in front of the trip spindle cam adjusted to the tripping position and that the trip spindle reaches its home p tion before the brush carriage has reached its own hon'ie position when the switchv is restored to normal.

Further features'of the invention relate to an improved and simplified construction ofthe clutch controlling the engagement of the said flexible wheel with the trip spindle wheel and the power driven wheel, and to a plunger mechanism operated by the brush carriage when it reaches its home position inorder to open the homing circuit of the switch.

The above and other features of the inven tion will be more readily understood from the following description and the drawings of one embodiment thereof, but it will be understood that the invention is in no way limited to this particular embodiment.

Referring now to the drawings, Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the selector with a portion of the power driven main shaft shown in dotted lines. Fig. 2 is a plan of the selector switch shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 shows schematically the common driven gear and the common drive according to this invention as applied to the selector shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and Fig. 4 shows a modification of this driving system To the selector frame (1) is attached the terminal are by means of top and bottom plates The terminals (28) are arranged in blocksof which only a few numbers are shown. in the drawings. The selector frame carries also the clutch magnets (4t, 5) which serve to control the driving gear formed by the wheels 35, 36 and 37. The manner of operation of this gear will be described hereii'ia-fter. Furthermore the frame (1) carries a setof commutator brushes which cooperate with a commutator (17) lo cated at the upper end of the trip spindle (11), and a plunger mechanism (20) arranged to operate setof home contacts (19) when the brush carriage reaches its hometion to position. the home contacts being also attached to the frame of the selector. A further set of commutator brushes may be at tached to the said frame if the selector to be used as aiin'al selector. This latter set of brushes and the corresponding commutator which will be carried on the brush carriage (8) are not shown in the present drawings.

The brush carriage (8) is pivoted in the centre of the frame in an upper and lower bearing (9, 10). The lowerbearing (9) is adjustable so as to permit the exact alignment of the brushes (25) of the brush car-. riage with the horizontal terminal rows of the arc. On each side of the frameportion carrying the upper bearing (10), a set of brushes rings (18) located at the upper end of the brush carriage, whereby electrical connection is established between the brushes (25) of the brush carriage and theassociated selector circuit. The brushes (25) are threaded on a spindle which is rigidly secured to the lower and upper plate of the brush carriage by means of screws asshown in Fig. 2 and they are normally held in the unoperated position by latch blocks (24) of insulating material which are pivotally mounted on another spindle ofthe brush carriage.

Fig. 2 of the drawings shows the brushes (25) and the latch blocks (24) in their unoperated position and Fig. 1 shows the rear view ,ofthe brush carriage. As it may be seen from Fig. 2 the latch blocks are pressed against the brushes (25) by comb springs (26) mounted on the rear portion of 6 the brush carriage. These comb springs are however not shown in Fig. 1. The brushes (25) are kept retracted and out of the range of the arc terminals (28) by these latch blocks against pressure exerted upon them'by comb springs (27) which are also mounted on the rear portion of the brush carriage but insulated therefrom and which tend to force the brushes'outward. The comb springs (27) serve also to make the electrical connection between the commutator rings (18) and the brushes (25)..

To the left of the brush carriage is pivoted in an adjustable lower bearing (12) v and an upper bearing (13) the trip spindle (11), which carries a rigid gear wheel (37)secured to the lower end of the spindle and at its top end the already mentioned commutator (17). The trip spindle or cam shaft carries furthermore a number of cams (11') which correspond to the different. groups or levels of the selector arc and which are spirally arrai'igc-d around the shaft (11) in'a well known manner. i

To the right of the brush carriage is a roller (14) which resets the brushes as they pass on their way in completing a rota- (6) is mounted in a suitable manner. I The brushes (6) engage the commutator the home position. This roller is pivoted in a lower bearing (15) which is also adjustable and in an upper bearing (16). These bearings as well as the bearings carrying the brush carriage and the trip spindle are arranged in horizontal extensions of the selector frame.

' The driving gear of the brush carriage and the trip spindle will now be described. The driving system comprises as stated in the foregoing thethree gear wheels 35, 36 and 37. The gearwheel is the driving wheel and is rigidly fixed on the continuously rotatmg power driven bay shaft (38). The gear wheel (36) consist of a thin. flexible disc mounted at the bottomcnd of the brush carriage 8 and rotatable therewith and the wheel (3; secured to the lower; end of the trip spindle. The flexible wheel is normally warped out of engagement with the continuously rotating wheel and with the trip spindle wheel (37 by means of the armatures 41) of the clutch magnets and (5) respectively. Thesaid clutch magnets (4) and 5) are verysimilar one to anotherand therefore only one will be described in detail. The clutch magnet (4) is mounted on a rectangular-1y bent support which is fixed by screws to a vertical extension (39) of the selector frame. The armature (29) is pivoted at one end in extensions (32) provided on the said support and carries adjacent to its pivoted end a vertical extension The outer end of this vertical extension is engaged by a helical spring (31) the other end ef-which is secured to an adjustable angle lever (48) pivotally mounted on the said support. This angle lever (48) may be shifted by means of a screw (53) screwed 'in'the said support and operating on the free arm of the angle lever. whereby the tension of the the flexible gear wheel (36) and presses it. against a back stop (34), whereby the brush carriage is immediately stopped in the desired position when the armature releases. The clutch magnet (5) is mounted in the same manner, however its armature (41) carries at its outer end a roller (42) operating upon the flexible disc (36). This roller is provided to permit the further movement of the brush carriage when the flexible wheel is warped out of engagement with the trip spindle wheel In order tosecure the trip spindle in the selected tripping position a piece 52 is provided on the portion of the armature which passes over the trip spindle wheel. This piece acts a brake when the trip spindle fGlutch ('5) releases and there fore the trip spindle is held in the desired position.

As mentioned in the foregoing the selector frame carriers at the right upper portion a plunger mechanism (20). The said mechanism comprises a pivotally arranged lever (21) which engages with its free end ahorizontally arranged plunger (20). The opposite end of the plungerengages a contact spring (19). Normally the said plunger is forced by the said contact spring in the path of a projection (23) provided on the upper plate of the brush carriage. WVhen however the brush carriage reaches the home position indicated in Fig. 2 by the line (50), the said projection engages the lever (21) and thereby forces the plunger (20) to operate the springs (19) which are mounted on a support (40) fixed to the selector frame.

The operation of the selector will be now described. Fig. 3 showsschematically the driving arrangement illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 and reference may be made to that figure for a complete understanding.

\Vhen the selector is taken into use the clutch magnet (4) operates and brings the flexible gear wheel (36) into engagement with the continuously rotating drive (35) which is fixed to the power driven bay shaft 38 A t the same time the clutch magnet (5) has been operated which removes the brake (52) from the trip spindle wheel (87) and allows the flexible wheel (36) to come into engagement with the trip spindle wheel, so

that the trip spindle (11) rotates together with the brush carriage (8). As soon as the trip spindle stands in the required position to unlatch the brushes of a given level,

the clutch magnet (5) releases. The roller (42) mounted on the armature (41) of the trip spindle clutch disengages the flexible gear wheel ('36) from the trip spindle wheel (37) and the brake (52) mounted on same armature is pressed on the wheel (37) and stops the trip spindle (11).

Clutch magnet (4) however remains operated so the brush carriage (8) continues its rotation and in passing the trip spindle (11) one set of brushes (25) is released by the associate latch block (24) engaging one of the cams (11) projecting in itspath. The brush carriage thereafter continues its rotation until it is stopped on an arc terminal, which represents either a free trunk the case of a group selector or a selected line in the case of a final select-or by deenergization of the clutch magnet At the end of a call the clutch magnets (4) and (5) are again operated. The brush carriage (8) and the trip spindle (11) rotate until they both reach their home positions. As the trip spindle will reach its home position first the magnet will release first the dotted line which connects the centre of the brush carriage shaft with that of the trip spindle.

When returning home after completion of a connection with the last terminal of the are, thetrip spindle will reach the home position before the brush carriage has reached its own home position. It will be understood that in passing the resetting roller (14) the previously tripped set of brushes (25) is returned to normal, being relatched by the latch block (24).

The foregoing is also shown in Fig. 2 of the drawing in which the angle (A) indicates the angular distance within which the brush carriage and the trip spindle are restored to their normal positions, whereas the angle (B) shows the angular distance within which the trip spindle can be rotated from the home position to the last or 10th tripping position. i

It isv to be noted that during rotation of the brush carriage, the roller (42) mounted on the armature of the clutch magnet (5) rolls over the flexible gear wheel Fig. 4 illustrates the same principle, but in this case the flexible gear wheel (36) is pushed into engagement with the trip spindle wheel (37) by the roller (42) mounted on the armature (41) of clutch (5).

When the clutch magnet (5) releases, the flexible gear wheel (36) disengages from the trip spindle wheel (37) under the influence of'its own tension. At the same time the brake (52) mounted on the lower side of the armature stops the trip spindle.

It will be observed that with the construction according to this invention the shaft (38) may be arranged in any convenient position in front of the switch so as to be easily reached for attendance purposes.

It will be further seen that all parts of the switch which have to be inspected from time to time are easily accessible since they are all arranged on the front side of the switch.

At the same time it must be pointed out that the selector according to this invention requires less mounting space than any former construction of this type of selector, and that due to the use of only one driving gear and one drive which is common to the brush carriage and the trip spindle the costs are also reduced.

It will be understood that while the foregoing description applies to a switch using a gear drive of a particular form shown, the

invention may be applied'to any form of gear drive. Further it will be clear that the application of the invention is in no way limited to the particular type of switch shown and that it may be applied to any form of selector in which gear drive is used and in which there are more than one movable part.

What is claimed is:

1. In a selector switch comprising a plurality of sets of brushes and mounted on a movable carriage, a device for. selecting a particular set of said brushes, and means to operate said device by a movement of said carriage preliminary to the movementthere of which advances the brushes over the bank of the selector.

2. A selector switch comprising a plurality of contacts carried on a movable brush carriage said contacts being normally in an inoperative position with respect to the selector bank contacts and in'which a particular set of said contacts is brought into operative position by a multi position trip spindle, characterized in this that means is provided whereby the said trip spindle is operatively connected to move with said brush carriage whereby itis brought into one of its operative positions simultaneously with a preliminary movement of the brush carriage.

3. In a selector switch having a brush carriage and a trip spindle for selecting a particular set of brushes out of a plurality of sets mounted on the brush carriage, the combination of a driving wheel for the brush carriage, a driving wheel for the trip spindle and means for operatively connecting said wheels forpart' of the brush carriage cycle;

4. A selector switch having a brush carriage and :1 trip spindle cooperating therewith, characterized in this that the brush carriage is provided with a gear wheel adapted to be driven from a continuously rotating power driven shaft, which gear wheel is also arranged to drive the trip spindle during part of the brush carriage cycle.

5. A selector switch comprising a brush carriage, a flexible. gear wheel on said brush carriage,a trip spindle having a gear wheel mounted thereon, means for warping said flexible gear wheel into and out of engagement with a driving gear, and means for warping said flexible gear wheel into and out of engagement with said gear wheel mounted on the trip spindle during the brush carriage cycle. I

6. A selector switch according to claim 5 wherein said means for warping said gear wheel are controlled by electromagnets which are energize-d simultaneously.

7. A selector switch comprising a rotatable brush carriage, a rotatable trip spindle, a plurality of brushes carried by said brush carriage, a plurality of spirally arranged cams on said trip spindle for tripping said brushes, means for rotating said trip'spin die during the rotation of the brush carriage 8. A selector switch comprising in com- I bination a frame, a brush carriage journalled V for rotation in said frame, a trip spindle journalled for rotation in said frame, means for rotating said brush carriage,-:means on said brush carriage forrotating said trip spindle during the rotation of the brush carriage, means for stopping rotation of said trip spindle and'means independent of said last mentioned means for stopping rotation of said brush carriage.

9. A selector switch comprising in combi nation a frame, a brush carriage journalled for rotation in said frame, a trip spindle journalled for rotation in. said frame, a gear wheel on said brush carriage, a gear wheel on said trip spindle, an electromagnet on said frame and means under control of said electromagnet for engaging and disengaging said gear wheels during the brush carriage cycle. 1 I w -10. A selectorswitch as claimed in claim 9 wherein a secondelectromagnet is provided on said frame-a11d means under control of said second electromagnet efiects the engagement and disengagement of theigear wheel on the brush carriage with a source of driving power common to a plurality of selector switches.

11. A selector switch as claimed in claim 9 wherein the gear wheel on the brush carriage is in the form of a fiexible disc and said means under control of the electromagnet carries a roller for engaging said disc to allow rotation of the latter when warped out of engagementwith the gear wheel on the crating with the trip spindle and adapted to arrest its rotational movement.

18. In a selector switch as claimed in claim 8 the combination of a plunger slidably mounted on said frame, a set of contacts on said frame adapted to be operated by said plunger and means on the brush carriage for operating said plunger.

In witness whereof, we hereunto subscribe our names. I

GERALD DEAKIN. LOUIS JEAN JOSEPH SOHREIBER; 

